HOMEBREW Digest #915 Thu 02 July 1992

FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:Electrim Bin / sparge water (Josh Grosse)Lovibond needed (chris campanelli)Cleaning Blow-off tubes (Jim Grady)hydrometer, methanol (Russ Gelinas)Chas. Anderson's first All-Grain ("Robert Haddad" )7 Gallon Carboys (916)351-5514" <JMYERS at T1ACC1.intel.com>Leaking cooler (Nick Zentena)IPUs (Bob Devine 01-Jul-1992 1102)Some thoughts on Hot peppers and beer (Paul Kramer)
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Date: Tue, 30 Jun 92 22:03:21 EDT
From: jdg at grex.ann-arbor.mi.us (Josh Grosse)
Subject: Electrim Bin / sparge water
Charlie Anderson asks:
> ...I mashed for 90mins w/2.25 gals
>in my electrim-bin, ... had a hell of a time getting the temp to stay constant
>at 150...
> ...is it really important to keep it exactly on target?
Yes, Charlie, it's VERY important. There are two solutions to your
problem. 1) STIR. Every minute or two. 2) USE A GRAIN BAG. This will
keep the grain off of your element so it doesn't burn, allows you to
sparge right out of your mashing tun, and forces you to use more water,
which would also help your temperature stability.
> .... Should my sparge water be boiling when I start, TCJOHB says
>170, does it matter?
At 172 or higher, you may begin extracting tannins which can cause
undesirable off flavors. I use 168. JS uses boiling water, though he
has reported his grain-bed temperature ends up a lot lower than that.
Good luck!
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Josh Grosse jdg at grex.ann-arbor.mi.us
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Date: Tue, 30 Jun 92 23:32 CDT
From: akcs.chrisc at vpnet.chi.il.us (chris campanelli)
Subject: Lovibond needed
Does anyone have a Lovibond rating for either Victory malt or
unmalted wheat? Thanks in advance.
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Date: Wed, 1 Jul 92 7:51:07 EDT
From: Jim Grady <jimg at hpwalq.wal.hp.com>
Subject: Cleaning Blow-off tubes
Bob Jones asks about cleaning out blow-off tubes:
I use 'B-Brite' to clean mine. I get it from my homebrew supplier (generally
Beer & Wine Hobby in Woburn, MA & sometimes Modern Brewer in Cambridge, MA).
It's a sterilizer and cleanser (in probably the loosest senses of those terms)
and works very well. It is kind of expensive so I use bleach when I just need
to sterilize but B-Brite works great at cleaning out blow-off tubes, the neck
of the carboy after blow-off & getting labels off a new batch of bottles. The
label on the bag of B-Brite says to use 1 TBS/Gal but I usually use a little
more than half that amount. I have never found it necessary to scrub the gunk
out; just soak for a while and rinse.
- --
Jim Grady | Trink was klar ist
Internet: jimg at wal.hp.com | Lieb was wahr ist
Phone: (617) 290-3409 | Merlin - Bier
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Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1992 9:44:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: R_GELINAS at UNHH.UNH.EDU (Russ Gelinas)
Subject: hydrometer, methanol
Hydrometer readings will go up even while the heavier trub material
is settling out because the wort is cooling. Cool wort has a higher
SG than hot wort. Think of it as a syrup; cold syrup is thick, hot
syrup is thin, and in a simple sense, that's what SG is a measure of,
liquid thickness.
Now, once and for all, can someone definitively answer whether it is
possible to produce truly "bad" alcohols (like methanol) in homebrew, in
any way? I mean by "normal" fermentation, very hot or very cold fermentation,
very long (like 5 years) fermentation, pasteurization, storage at very high
temps, exposure to various frequencies of light, distillation, or any other
strange thing we might do to our beer.
Russ
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Date: 1 Jul 92 10:46:06 EDT
From: "Robert Haddad" <RHADDAD at bss1.umd.edu>
Subject: Chas. Anderson's first All-Grain
I particularly enjoyed Charles Anderson's account of his bold move
into all-grain brews, as well as Desmond Mottram's reply.
I have been brewing for a couple of years but have yet to make the
move into all-grain. Perhaps the time has come...
Charles, keep us appraised of the result of the brew. Also, could you
describe any further monetary investments (above and beyond the
equipment necessary for extract brew) for such items as wort chiller
and the like?
Thanks a lot
Robert Haddad
rhaddad at bss1.umd.edu
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Date: Wed, 1 Jul 92 08:28:37 PDT
From: "JOHN MYERS, INTEL FM3-35, (916)351-5514" <JMYERS at T1ACC1.intel.com>
Subject: 7 Gallon Carboys
In response to Matt Titus' request for information on 7 gallon
carboys - They are available at:
"THE BREWMEISTER"
303 Riley Street
Folsom, CA 95630
The cost is $20.00. I'm not sure if they're shipping yet? This
brew supply store just opened within the last month.
The number is (916)985-7299 if you want to call first.
Rumors have it - Johnny Cash shops there.
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Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1992 12:58:48 -0400
From: Nick Zentena <zen%hophead at canrem.com>
Subject: Leaking cooler
Hi,
I decided to replace the drain on my cooler with a
drum tap. Well it leaks. Not alot but more then I
willing to accept. I've heard mention of using
silcone caulking to seal the hole. Is this stuff
safe at mash temps/PH? Is anything better?
Thanks
Nick
*****************************************************************************
I drink Beer I don't collect cute bottles!
zen%hophead at canrem.com
*****************************************************************************
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Date: Wed, 1 Jul 92 11:09:48 PDT
From: Bob Devine 01-Jul-1992 1102 <devine at cookie.enet.dec.com>
Subject: IPUs
Paul Sherrill asks:
> Now how can I figure the pepper extraction rate in IPUs (International
> Peppering Units) ?
If you are concerned with the "heat" of the peppers, there is an
accepted scale called the Scoville level. It assigns a numeric
value to each variety of pepper, going from a value of 1 for a
green pepper to tens of thousands or higher for very hot peppers.
I remember that the scotch bonnet and haberno are over 100,000!
Just like hops, you should be able to mix different strains of
peppers to give the desired flavor + heat. That is, use a pepper
with more of the vegetative flavor to combine with a high heat pepper.
Bob Devine
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Date: Wed, 1 Jul 92 17:34:56 EDT
From: pdk at pyrnj.nj.pyramid.com (Paul Kramer)
Subject: Some thoughts on Hot peppers and beer
With regards to Paul Sherrill's article on pepper beer, I submit the
following tangential musings:
> When I do this again I will go for the 1/4 inch slices in some sort of
> ale. In fact the IPA in primary could turn into India Peppered Ale.
> Also on the agenda for the future would be attempting a pepper tea at
> bottling. The problem with this is the extrapolation of the number of
> peppers to use and the pepper extraction rate when made into a tea.
>
> Now how can I figure the pepper extraction rate in IPUs (International
> Peppering Units) ?
As a devotee of fine beer & an enthusiastic pepper eater, I am pleased
to hear how well Paul Sherrill's pepper beers are coming out. His comment
about IPU(International Peppering Units), whether jesting or not, is a
reality. The Scoville Heat Unit has been around for years as a measure of
the amount of Capsaicin in a pepper. Because the quantity required for
taste perception was almost immeasurable, the scale originally relied on
human taste testing, but now through the wonders of "High-performance
Liquid Chromatography" a much more accurate method is available to
assay this chemical. The Scoville scale runs from 0(Bell pepper land) to
15,000,000, which is pure Capsaicin.
The peppers themselves have different ranges of heat going up to almost
300,000 Scovilles for the hottest Habaneros. At 1 part per million, the
warmth of pepper is perceptible on the palate. At 1 part per 100,000,
there should be an obvious burning. Now the extraction would not be 100%
on any given pepper, but I would think that a little testing with a couple
of varieties of peppers could produce some rule of thumb, given the peppers
original Scoville heat rating and its potential effect on ones tongue.
Since individual peppers vary in heat(within a range for their type), &
different parts of a pepper also vary greatly in their heat potential,
special preparation is necessary for controlled testing. The area around
the seeds is the source of the Capsaicin, therefore making a pulp of one
or better yet several peppers, and then using a portion of that to flavour
the beer would have more predictable results than using strips from a single
pepper. Another and possibly better method would be to use a packaged,
ground red pepper, such as Cayenne or Paprika. These are made in larger
quantities, and would be more uniform in heat from sample to sample within
a single brand. This ground pepper could be made into a tea.
Since Capsacin has been used as an emetic, it is conceivable that it is
available in solution from a pharmacist. If this is true, one could have
excellent control of the dosage per bottle or keg.(Remember, the burn is
not a taste perception, it's teh pain receptors in your mouth which get
stimulated. And Capsaicin has no flavour on its own.)
Although I have never done any of the above, I have the greatest confidence
in the skills of the HBD audience, and offer myself as a taster wherever
& whenever convenient.
As an aside, I think that when I go home I'll put a measured splash of
a hot sauce, which has few adjuncts, into a beer to see what it tastes
like. Since the peppering could be accomplished after the brew is cooled
off, it may not matter when it goes into the beer.
cheers,
paul davis kramer
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #915, 07/02/92